Intelligent Design: White dominates in Park City

The Intelligent Design went down in sunny Park City with U.S. rider Shaun White dominating the unique contest, posting another much needed TTR result and inching himself closer to a potential second world title by entering the Top 5.

Close behind White was Canadian shredder Charles Reid who finished second in Utah and moved up into World No. 7 with U.S. rider Luke Mitrani rounding out the podium in third. All three took home sizable portions of the 50.000 US Dollar prize purse.

The preliminary rounds saw competitors amp things up considerably from the previous day's practice runs with Sebastian Toutant (CAN) qualifying first for the finals. The speedy but soft course allowed riders to take higher risks and bigger lines off the jumps and through the transitions. Reid and Mitrani qualified further down, but managed to squeeze in for the ten-man final.

Of course all eyes were glued to Shaun White once the finals hit and he certainly had no trouble defining himself as a master of all features as he held off the rest of the pack to claim the 5Star Title and move up into World No. 5. Although still considerably behind current tour leader Peetu Piirionen (FIN) White still has ample opportunity to earn a truckload of points at the US Open.

The finals saw the competition heat up, along with the temperature and although riders like Sebastian Toutant, local Utah shred Joe Eddy and Wyatt Caldwell (USA) were favored to do well with good runs in the qualifications, they were unable to bring it all together and make the podium.

White took the title on his second of three runs laying down a huge Frontside 10 off the first kicker, a Backside 7 on the step-up, a Frontside 270 to Frontboard on the down rail, and dropped into a slick Halfpipe run that included a Backside 9, Frontside 3 and Cab 10, finally ending with an Alley-oop Backside rodeo on the beefy Quarterpipe.

"A lot of guys only hit one thing or the other, so this definitely catered towards my riding style, " said White when asked about what he thought about the unconventional course set up. "I'm excited to get my win here, get some more points and I'll see you at the US Open."

Charles Reid claimed second place with a solid second run that included a massive Frontside 10 and Backside Rodeo on the top of the course, a Frontboard on the down rail, a Backside Air, Frontside 9 and Alley-oop in the pipe, ending with an Alley-oop Rodeo on the Quarterpipe. Luke Mitrani who had difficulties on his first two runs, stuck together the third time around with a Backside 5, Backside 7, an insane double Backflip on the bottom of the pipe and stylish Backside Air on the Quarterpipe.

With the Intelligent Design now complete, the TTR World Tour turns to the Burton US Open in Stratton Vermont, where all the big players from around the globe will congregate for what is no doubt going to be an epic finale.

2008/2009 - World Snowboard Tour Rankings:
1. Piiroinen, Peetu (FIN), 904.59
2. Guldemond, Chas (USA), 840.27
3. Mattila, Risto (FIN), 782.92
4. Pearce, Kevin (USA), 782.78
5. White, Shaun (USA), 769.72